Russia Says its Cargo Ship Crashed Due to Malfunction

Image for representation. (Photo: AP)

Moscow: Russia's space agency says an unmanned cargo space ship that blasted off to the International Space Station has crashed due to an unspecified malfunction.

Roscosmos says in a statement on Thursday that the Progress MS-04 cargo craft crashed at the altitude of 190 kilometers (118 miles) over the remote Russian Tyva region that borders Mongolia. It says most of the space ship's debris burnt as it entered the atmosphere.

The ship had lifted off as scheduled Thursday evening but stopped transmitting data 383 seconds after the launch.

Roscosmos said the crash of the ship would have no impact on the operations of the orbiting lab that is currently home to a six-member crew, including three cosmonauts from Russia, two NASA astronauts and one from the European Union.